THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

If the Mayans were correct, this may be the last countdown we ever hear.  And it will be a good one.  The Top 112 of 2012 begins December 1st - the start of KJRW's third year on Live365.com.

Countdowns are kind of a media year end tradition - a way to tie up the past year in a little bow and present it as a gift for the holidays.  Back in 1999, the program director of Seattle's One and Only Classic Rock Station decided it would be a good idea to countdown the 1,000 best Classic Rock songs of all time.  We all agreed this would be a great way to celebrate the new millennium.  We would reach number one on New Year's Day, provided we were still on the air after Y2K shut down all the computers.  For some reason, the Classic Rock Station still does the thousand song countdown every year between Christmas and New Year's.  The songs are all the same, and Stairway to Heaven is always number one.

KJRW's Top 112 of 2012 is not a rehash of the same old songs.  It is not even the same as the Top 111 of 2011.  For starters, it goes to 112, that's one higher.  (This is Spinal Tap reference)  Nirvana had the most songs on the list last year, but this year only have two.  We would be willing to bet at least half the songs on this year's list were not on last year's, and the ones that do make a return trip are not at the same rank.  The Top 112 is not your typical list of the top punk songs, either.  Surprisingly, there's no Dead Kennedys, Replacements, Minor Threat nor Misfits, and only one Sex Pistols song. 

Now that we have said what the Top 112 of 2012 is not, let us tell you what it is.  This compilation is made up of the songs that were in the Top Ten lists this year because they got the thumbs up from KJRW listeners.  We sat here and counted all of them.  Some of the results were very unexpected.  But what you can expect to hear is the Ramones, Clash, Pretenders, Soundgarden, White Stripes, Strokes and more.

The Top 112 of 2012 starts Saturday on KJRW.  http://www.live365.com/stations/member_10222739915?play=1 
The full list will be posted here soon. 

TOP TEN

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts finally have a number one song on KJRW.  Here is this week's list:

1. You Got A Problem - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
2. Soup Is Good Food - Dead Kennedys
3. The Busdrivers - Josh's Shirt
4. Rock & Roll Queen - Subways
5. Alone, Together - Strokes
6. Where Eagles Dare - Misfits
7. We Want the Airwaves - Ramones
8. Tall - Prat Attack
9. Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
10. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana

If you enjoy reading these top ten lists, you will love listening to the Top 112 of 2012,  All the songs that made it into the top ten lists the most over the past year will be counted down starting Saturday, December 1st.

THANK YOU

We just wanted to take a minute to thank you for listening to KJRW.  You have many ways to listen to music these days.  But, with "regular" radio you have to sit through five or six minutes of commercials just to hear a song that some old guy in a suit thinks you tuned in for.  So, you turn to your Ipod or Spotify in order to pick the songs you want to listen to, without all the chatter.  But, that can get predictable and boring.  Opening up Pandora may give you some surprises, especially since it rarely plays the actual artist you have typed that you want to hear.  Even on Live365 there are thousands of stations to choose from, but many of them sound like someone just loaded some songs and hit "shuffle".  No corporate "bigwig" has decided which songs are on KJRW.  Bands that don't even have record deals yet send us demos and we play them.   No computer program spits out a playlist.  We find music that we enjoy and place those songs in a certain order that we hope you find pleasing.  Our aim is to entertain you with songs that you haven't heard in awhile and some you never heard before.  Again, thanks for listening to KJRW.

TOP TEN

Only one song remains from last week's list, and it does so just barely, hanging in at number ten.  Here are the most popular songs on KJRW halfway through November:

1. The Busdrivers - Josh's Shirt
2. You Got a Problem - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
3. Take It or Leave It - Strokes
4. Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr.
5. Where Eagles Dare - Misfits
6. Soup Is Good Food - Dead Kennedys
7. Straight Ahead - Pennywise
8. Alone, Together - Strokes
9. Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
10. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana

Listen to KJRW for NEW Bad Religion!

JUNIOR

This time last year, KJRW held a fund drive to raise the subscription price of another year on Live365.com.  That sophomore year is near its end.

Back in June, when the KJRW studio was ripped apart due to sewer damage, Seattle Listener Ava sent us a Live365 gift card to pay for next year's subscription!

KJRW begins its third year online December 1st with the Top 112 of 2012!  A countdown of all the songs you gave the "thumbs up" over the past year.

Thank you for listening to KJRW and telling your friends to listen, too!  You can still help at www.gofundme.com/KJRW-WestSeattle.

TOP TEN

The Hives were still on top this past week, while other songs played musical chairs.  These are the most popular tunes on KJRW:

1. Abra Cadaver - Hives
2. Tall - Prat Attack
3. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
4. American Idiot - Green Day
5. The Hardest Button to Button - White Stripes
6. Look Back and Laugh - Minor Threat
7. Below Merlot - Vacancies
8. Get Over You - Undertones
9. Steady, As She Goes - Raconteurs
10. Rock the Casbah - Clash

Which of these songs will make it onto the Top 112 of 2012? 
Vote for your favorite song on the KJRW Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KJRW.WestSeattle.

ELECTION DAY

KJRW congratulates President Barack Obama on being elected to a second term.  We are also pleased that there will be more women than ever in Congress.  It got us thinking about rockers who have run for office.  You may remember the "hanging chads" in 2000, but do you recall that Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame was almost the Green Party's nominee for President instead of Ralph Nader?  Jello also unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of San Francisco in 1979.  Blur Drummer Dave Rowntree ran for Parliament a couple years ago, but he lost.  D.O.A. Frontman Joey "Shithead" Keithley has run for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia twice, and is hoping the third time is the charm.  He will find out if he gets the nomination next month.  One who actually gained office is Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil.  He has been a member of Australia's House of Representatives since 2004.  Nirvana Bassist Krist Novoselic ran for Clerk of a small county in Washington a few years back to protest ballot laws, but withdrew from the race prior to the election.  We at KJRW hope he will run for Mayor of Seattle next year.

TOP TEN

An old Hives tune jumps to the top of the list this week.  Here are your current faves on KJRW:

1. Abra Cadaver - Hives
2. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
3. Tall - Prat Attack
4. Monkey Gone To Heaven - Pixies
5. Rocket - Smashing Pumpkins
6. American Idiot - Green Day
7. The Hardest Button to Button - White Stripes
8. Bang On - Breeders
9. Rock the Casbah - Clash
10. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes

More of your favorite songs from the past year to be added soon as we get ready to countdown the Top 112 of 2012...

OCTOBER SKY IS THE LIMIT

Hello and welcome to November.  Hope you had a great pumpkin Halloween and enjoyed all the spooky tunes on KJRW.  We wish listeners on the east coast a speedy recovery from Superstorm Sandy. 

October was a pretty good month for KJRW.  During the second half, our numbers climbed to new heights.  People spent the most time listening since the station was created.  The largest number of streams were launched.  We ended the month with the highest rank KJRW has ever had among all the thousands of stations on Live365.

Thanks for listening in:

• America
• Italy
• Sweden
• South Africa
• Germany
• Canada
• Mexico
• Israel
• Brazil
• Czech Republic

and inside the U.S.:

• Texas
• Illinois
• New Hampshire
• Washington
• Washington, D.C.
• Alabama
• Wyoming
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee